​Leverage internal audit/control experience for consulting/advisory

Hi guys,

I am new here and reading through some posts I thought about getting your good inputs on an idea that has been on the back of my mind for a little bit.

I have had 3-4 years of exposure to internal auditing for “big” international companies (about $20-24bn/year). With this, I developed a sens on the different operational processes in companies (HR, Finance, P2P, OTC, etc…), the related risks and controls a company can implement to mitigate them. I have travelled quite a bit for my job and got to see different legal frameworks and business environments. This gave me the ability to quickly adapt to new companies/environments and grasp the main risks to be tackled as well as their processes.

Whenever I discuss with friends working for small companies, I understand that standardisation, process design and control implementation was not seen as a priority at the beginning (fully understandable hehe). Though, they always mention deficiencies or inefficiencies in the operations that never get fixed and I try to give them tips that are usually seen as quite good ideas.

This is why, in a small corner of my head, the idea of starting freelancing (and maybe later a build a company around it) has grown. It would not target baby-companies but rather those with 3-6 years of life and trying to scale. I could bring my help on process design, creation of standard operating procedures, risk identification and control assessment/implementation.

I know big consulting firms provide such services but they tend to be quite high in pricing and thus inaccessible for SMEs. Do you believe this could have a chance in the market? Any complementary advice you would have on the idea?

Thanks a lot!